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Workshops to charge memory

Experts Help Students Organize What They Learn Through The Yr
Sruthy Susan Ullas TNN
Bangalore: Ashraff (name changed), 15, can rattle off the atomic weight of the first
15 elements in the periodic table in one breath. Vaibhav, a Class 11 student, says he
reads 25,000 words per minute.
Geniuses in the making? But both these kids introduce themselves as average
students. The magic mantra, they say, are memory-enhancing workshops.
Its the season to charge those grey cells, and what better way than a workshop.
From pills and tonics to tips and techniques, memory enhancers are the in thing.
And these workshops have much on offer to help students fare well.
One common technique is the pegging model, where subjects difficult to
memorize are pegged to something else. We train them in the law of imagination.
Students are taught to visualize. Next, they connect the visuals to themselves. It
helps easy recall, says Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury, a memory trainer, Dynamic
Memory, Faridabad. Biswaroop visits Karnataka often to conduct workshops.
D Krishnamurthy, a memory technologist in Hanumanthnagar, works on similar
lines. Rote memory is constant repetition. If you forget a key word, you tend to
forget everything. Here, you arent losing anything because its systematic, he
says. Predictably, January is a busy time for him. It is the time when knowledge
gathered through the year is cluttered and needs organization, he says.
There are others who promise more. Life strategist Md A A Ahmed conducts
exam maximizer programmes which comes in beginners and advanced capsules.
Level 1 gives tips on learning long answers in a single reading, memorizing key
words in 120 seconds, and helps concentrate on boring subjects. Ahmed wants to
patent a technique called flash reading, which he has developed. Here, a student
can read 30,000 words in a minute. According to him, the student actually
comprehends what he reads.
Midbrain Masters, a centre headquartered in Malaysia, says it can help children
activate their midbrain. An activated midbrain helps improve concentration,
enhance memory and speed up learning, says Rajeev Ahuja, trainer.
Experts feel sheer rote learning is promoted in such cases.Many of these
techniques look at rote or associative memory. Since our academic system is based
on rote learning, and not much on analytical skills, it helps score marks. It doesnt
do much to improve cognitive ability, points out Sulatha Shenoy, director, Turning

Point Psychological Centre.

There are some simple facts where theres nothing to understand; like
Gandhijis date of birth, or the boiling point of a liquid. One has to have an
imaginary understanding of it, says Biswaroop.
These workshops also focus on confidence levels, stress, emotional baggage,
etc. Students often complain they dont have the right mood to study and of short
attention span. We train them to overcome these, says Ahmed.
TIMES VIEW
First it was memory pills and now its memory boosting workshops. In a marks
card-driven education system like ours, its no surprise that students are enrolling
for such workshops. Often, such businesses thrive on peoples fears and a constant
urge to prove themselves among peers and in social circles. Parents need to take a
cautious approach here. While aiming for academic excellence is fine, they should
realize theres life beyond books. Surely such sessions could address concerns like
confidence levels, stress, emotional baggage and thereby help students focus better.
Rote learning shouldnt be the ultimate aim. POINTS TO BE NOTED
Workshops should look at
emotional, social abilities,
leadership skills and teamwork. Most students I get are looking to improve
memory. What they really need is an interest in the subject, some motivation, and
better teachers. Sulatha Shenoy | DIRECTOR, TURNING POINT
PSYCHOLOGICAL CENTRE
Several factors lead to poor memory. Most kids multitask while studying; some
fiddle with their phones, some listen to music. Many suffer from low selfesteem
and become anxious. All workshops address these problems. However, the
techniques they learn don't help in the long run. Boards like CBSE have started
insisting on analytical learning. When Narayana Murthy says our engineering
graduates are not employable, it is not surprising. Marks are important, but there's
more to life.Vikram Prabhu | PSYCHIATRIST, SAGAR HOSPITAL There's
no quick-fix to enhance memory. The techniques cannot be universally applicable.
Factors like emotional stress, motivation level and interest affect memory.
Feedback and follow-up is important to see if the techniques are working. Meera
Ravi | PSYCHOLOGIST, PRERANA ACADEMY
Such workshops stem from the idea of rote learning. If a teacher deals with a
subject engagingly, kids will learn. If not, they will have to look at mechanical
ways of doing it. It boils down to good teaching approaches and pedagogy. Maya
Menon | TEACHER FOUNDATION
I feel like I have textbooks in my head. I know what's on which page. When we
have to look at tabular columns during exams, things are much easier for me

because I know them by heart. Vaibhav | CLASS 11 STUDENT WHO

ATTENDED AHMED'S WORKSHOP